Such a nice and lazy vacation we took. One week on a family friendly resort in Cyprus. OBC or Ocean Beach Club, located outside Ayia Napa. We thought we’d kick start the summer with just playing in the pool, eating ice creams and enjoy our time together as a family. I can recommend that :)

Packing gear for a vacation is still a struggle for me. I keep trying out different cameras and lenses to get closer to the holy grail of cameras. But after some consideration I went with a “cheaper” setup and I don’t regret that at all. I went with my Nikon F100 instead of a Contax 645 or a Leica M7. That might sound crazy but I guarantee that most wouldn’t see the difference. The lens was the cheap nifty fifty, 50mm 1.8 G. Such a light combo, and with auto focus it was perfect when capturing the kids (or anything else for that matter). I used both 35mm Kodak TMAX 100 and Portra 400. Two perfect summer film stocks. Along with that I used my other favourite focal length, 28mm. This time it wasn’t the Leica Q. Instead I used Fujifilm XE3 and their 18mm f2 lens (28mm equivalent). Perfect in size, this little combo was a great match for me and my needs. I love getting the environment in some portraits and I think 28mm works especially well when photographing my kids. Wide open and getting really close is the way to go! All digital images are edited with Rebecca Lily Pro Set IV & V. All scans by Camrnecita Film Lab.

I hope you enjoy a glimse of the Cyprus summer!

Again, we made it out on a family trip. This time to sunny Greece and the isle of Rhodes. One week of sun and fun, and also some travel photography. I decided to bring the Leica Q and the M7, paired with the Nokton 50mm 1.5. My favourite color film is Kodak Portra 400 so I brought a few rolls of that. But also some TMAX 100 for the black and whites. Inspired by Joe Scholz and his beautiful images from travelling to Algarve.

Using the M7 in Dubai left me to desire a ND filter for those sunny b&w's. I got a 49mm for the Voigtlander Nokton 50mm 1.5. It reduces the light with 3 stops and made me able to shoot wide open, or nearly so, in almost any light. Super handy and I love the results. These two cameras made it in to my favourite Ona leather Bowery, along with some film and a light meter (that I never used). And of course a cloth and some lens cleaning. The front of my lens often gets smudges on it on summer holidays.

Let's just say one thing; I love my M7. Everything about it. The size is small and perfect. The handling is great. It looks amazing (that shouldn't make a difference perhaps, but it does to me). When travelling with my family I stick the exposure compensation on the back to +1. Having to focus manually takes the little time I have to get all things right, in order to get the shot. If I were to meter and shoot in all manual the moments with these small kids would be lost. Sometimes, when I'm out and about on my own, I can take the time to meter the scene and set the camera in full manual mode. But I see that it really works with aperture priority and exposure compensation, so that's fine for me. Call me lazy ;)

One downside to shooting film for me is not knowing if you nail the shot. That's something I have to learn and live with. With digital I take a few in continuous mode and I'm good. But I enjoy both the process and results of shooting film more than digital so that's a trade off I'm willing to do. Another downside is that you have to choose between loading color or black and white film. To get the timing right with where you are and with what you are shooting. That happened to me twice on this trip. I had TMAX 100 loaded when going in to the old town. There I wanted color. One solution to this could be to shoot all color and then change it to b&w in post. But I don't really like that, so that's not an option.

The Leica Q files are again edited with Rebecca Lily's Pro Set IV. They just match the Leica files so good that they blow the presets competition out of the water. A true match to my film images. For me both digital and film has it's place in my workflow. The 28mm 1.7 Summilux lens is really something! I've come to love my 28/50mm combo when I'm away on holiday. I've always struggled a bit with the 35mm focal length. And I think 24mm is too wide for my taste. In this post you will see a mix of images. The 28mm being digital and the 50mm being on film.

Rhodes was lovely. We stayed in a family resort in Kallithea, that was perfect for us travelling with small children.

These images were taken with Leica Q and Leica M7/Voigtlander Nokton 50mm 1.5. Scanned by Carmencita Film Lab.